100 Up!

We have reached our target of getting visitors from a hundred different countries. Hurray!! All we need now is a visitor from Chad and I can retire - and if that isn't an incentive for you to get on to your contacts in N'Djamena I don't know what is.

The dubious honour of being the 100th country to join the Leggies Club was keenly fought. At some point last night a visitor from Guatemala (99) popped in. An hour or so later someone from their immediate neighbour Belize (100) arrived - perhaps the Guatemalans shouted to them over the border. The reward for lucky Belize is to be patronised by my posting some of their music, which of course they will be much more familiar with than I am.

As well as sharing a border, Belize and Guatemala are both home to the Garifuna (or Garinagu) - people of Carib, Arawak and West African descent originally from St. Vincent until they were deported by the British to the coast of what are now Belize, Guatemala and Honduras at the end of the 18th century.

The best known Garifuna musician is Belize's Andy Palacio, who sadly died last year. Here are a couple of examples of his work.

"Mafiougati" - Andy Palacio (from "Keimoun", 1995)

"Weyu Larigi Weyu" - Andy Palacio & The Garifuna Colective (from "Watina", 2007)

And here is a clip of Andy asking to be given some Punta Rock. Judging by the subliminal message that flashes up about one minute in, I am guessing this was released on Caye Records in 1990.